Pet Owners Be on High Alert Heartworm Cases Are on the Rise

The spring season brings warmer weather, longer days, and mosquitoes. When it comes to your pets, these tiny insects can create a big problem known as heartworm disease – a life threatening, but easily preventable condition. It’s critical for owners to understand how to properly protect their pets.

The prevalence of heartworm disease in the U.S. is on the rise, likely due to last year’s extreme hurricane season that caused flooding across the Gulf Coast, eastern seaboard and Puerto Rico.

Overall, CAPC is forecasting above average activity nationwide.

• The Lower Mississippi Valley, an area where heartworm is rampant, is again forecasted to be more active than normal in 2018.
• Locations in the Northern tier states --- from Washington State to Vermont --- are forecasted to see more cases in 2018.
• North and South Carolina coastal areas: you are also predicted to see above normal activity.
• The Pacific Coast states west of the Sierras are expected to see above normal prevalence.
• Congratulations Alpena, Michigan: you are virtually the only area in the country forecasted to see below normal activity in 2018.

“What heart-worm is and the reason we want to be so vigilant in preventing it is that it is a very serious and potential disease for both dogs and cats,” said Dr. Andrea Sanchez from Banfield Pet Hospital. “It is transmitted by mosquitoes. All it takes is one mosquito bite to transit heart worm disease from an affected pet to another wise healthy pet. The mosquito is capable of injecting the larva of the heart worm into the pet circulatory system. Wherever there are mosquitoes there are going to be heartworms.”

Treatment of heart worm is not easy, either; it can be physically and mentally stressful for your dog and can be up to 4,000 times more expensive to treat than to prevent. That’s why it’s so important to talk to your veterinarian about preventive treatment.

“Knowing the signs to look for in your pet if you think they might have heart-worm disease is a challenge especially without testing because we often don’t see the signs of heart-worm disease until the pet already have congestive heart failure,” said Dr. Sanchez. “Congestive heart failure means the heart worms have already matured to the point where they may have caused irreversible damage to the heart, lungs and major blood vessels and sometimes other organs. We much rather advocate for getting your pet tested before it can ever get to that point. If it does get to that point what you may see are signs of coughing, decreased energy level, sometimes difficulty breathing or panting. The pet may not be able to walk, play or run for as long as they use to. Sometimes they even collapse or faint in which none of us want to see.”

“There are plenty of prevention options out there and all of them work even if a mosquito has bitten the pet,” said Sanchez. “A medication such as Trifexis is a monthly tablet that kills fleas and prevents flea infestations and prevents heart-worm disease and so does Interceptor and ProHeart 6 is a six month injection for cats. A full grown dog can get treatment to rid the full grown heart-worms. It takes several months and several repeat injections. “

For more information visit banfield.com/stateofpethealth and for heart-worms only visit heartwormmsociety.com

Dr. Andrea Sanchez

Dr. Andrea Sanchez has been practicing small animal veterinary medicine since graduating from Oregon State University in 2007. She currently serves as Senior Manager of Veterinary Policies and Standards at Banfield Pet Hospital’s headquarters in Vancouver, WA. Dr. Sanchez has been with Banfield ever since graduating veterinary school, and she originally practiced their hospitals in Austin and San Antonio, Texas, where heartworm disease is very common. She has also lead several trips through the Mars Ambassador Program and the Banfield Foundation to provide heartworm testing, treatment, and other preventive care in Heartworm endemic areas like Louisiana and Puerto Rico.

Courtesy: Banfield Pet Hospital

Photo Courtesy: Română: Mimi&Tigsi CC-BY-SA-3.0 from Wikimedia Commons